Georgiana School

Georgiana School is a PK-12 school in the small town of Georgiana, Alabama, serving 377 students within the Butler County school district. The school serves a predominantly low-income population, with roughly 82% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

The most impressive thing about Georgiana School is its perfect 100% graduation rate, which has been maintained for two consecutive years and beats both the district (90.8%) and state (91.5%) averages. The school also shines in early elementary reading: 81.5% of 3rd graders scored proficient in English in 2025-2026, well above the state average of 64.8%. This represents a dramatic improvement from just 20% proficiency three years earlier. However, these early wins don't hold up as students get older. By 5th grade, math proficiency drops to just 3.9%, and it stays that low through 8th grade. This steep decline suggests that while the school does a great job with young learners, something isn't clicking in the upper elementary and middle school years. Chronic absenteeism is also a major concern at 24.9%—more than double the state average of 12.0%—though it has improved significantly from 38.1% in 2022-2023.

Compared to nearby McKenzie High School (just 5.77 miles away in the same district), Georgiana lags in test scores but matches McKenzie's 100% graduation rate. McKenzie has a much lower poverty rate (55.4% vs. 82%) and far less chronic absenteeism (8.0% vs. 24.9%). Red Level School, about 17 miles away in the Covington County district, also outperforms Georgiana academically despite serving a similar demographic profile. Georgiana actually spends more per student ($11,631) than either McKenzie ($9,181) or Red Level ($8,239), suggesting the extra money is going toward supporting students' non-academic needs rather than directly boosting test scores. The bottom line: Georgiana School is a caring place that gets kids to graduation, but families should be aware of the academic challenges in upper grades and the high absenteeism rate.